


You make me wanna die (I’m burning in the light)

by BehindTheRobinsMask



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alpha Dick Grayson, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Autoerotic Asphyxiation, Dark, Dark Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson is Deathwing, Earth-3, Jason Todd is a Talon, M/M, Manipulative Relationship, Omega Jason Todd, Possessive Behavior, Sexual Violence, Twisted Characters, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, but don't worry they come back, fucked to death, guess who just got murdered?, hoo boi where to begin, it's ya boi jay, mentions of BDSM, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:41:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27042151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BehindTheRobinsMask/pseuds/BehindTheRobinsMask
Summary: Dick Grayson, Deathwing, is a patient man. But when Jason dies once again, that patience runs thin and Dick knows that he needs to teach mate a little lesson.P.S. - Please make sure to read the tags before you dive into this fic
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 9
Kudos: 133





	You make me wanna die (I’m burning in the light)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lostandlonelybirds (RUNNFROMTHEAK)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RUNNFROMTHEAK/gifts).



> Song - Make Me Wanna Die by The Pretty Reckless
> 
> For AK, 
> 
> Happy birthday, my wonderful partner in murder. I love you so so much! I hope you enjoy the fic and have a wonderful day.

_ I think we need a break.  
  
_

Two years, three months, four days and seven hours. That was how long it had been since Jason had said those words to Dick, sitting in the middle of the bed they shared, silk sheets pooled around his scarred waist, the white of his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat, droplets of it swimming down his throat and across his bare chest that was bruised red with bite marks, across the autopsy scar that he had been reborn with. He looked like a picture, each feature painted so delicately with colours that pulled, that hypnotised and drowned. The fingers of his right hand flexed, parted and then brushed across the back of his neck, tracing the bond mark that tied him down to Dick, shuddering slightly under the imprint, his heady scent spreading across the room like a drug. Strong, so fucking strong that Dick could still taste it on his tongue. Looking like that, after everything they had done, when he opened his mouth, when he said the words that had been sitting on the tipping of his tongue, it was only to end everything that they were.   
  


A break, Jason had called it. Some time apart to get his head together. Some time apart so he could forget the trauma of dying. Some time apart so he could sleep through the night and not be haunted by the memories of everything that he saw in the pits of hell. After all the years he spent working for Owlman as his little pet Talon, after all the things he had done as he soared through the sky with Deathwing, there was no way a soul like his, one so drenched in black would go anywhere but straight into the fiery pits. Lucifer, as playful as he was, eagerly awaited the day he could cradle their essence in the palm of his hands. Despite being mated for life, despite having promised their everything to each other, Jason needed  _ time,  _ a request that Dick didn’t understand but one that he would grant because he was an understanding alpha. He was understanding and caring. Most of all, he knew Jason better than Jason knew himself and he knew that no matter how much  _ time  _ passed, they would be reunited, by will and not by force. Unlike his many teammates, Dick knew the meaning of patience. He understood that good things happened for those who waited.   
  


So, he had waited. Biding his time. Throwing himself into work. Taking out those every drop of anger onto anyone who dared to cross his path, sending him on a spree that made everyone fear him. Even the  _ mighty  _ Ultraman with his Kryptonian strength kept his distance, no longer trying to seduce the retired Talon into his arms.   
  


Now, lounging on the couch in his apartment in New York, one that he had bought after his separation with Jason, giving up their shared space because he didn’t want the omega to go running back to Thomas, Dick sharpened the edges of his nails. It was a habit he had picked up when he had first started out as Talon, finding a strange kind of thrill whenever small beads of blood trickled down the faces of his enemies, little red brooks tracing down every edge.   
  
He sharpened his nails and imagined them running through the thin veil of Jason’s being, shredding him into a million pieces, some to be boxed away, some to be set on fire, torn apart in such a way that he could never be whole again. It was only then that Dick could twist himself so deep inside Jason, sear his skin with brands and make him his. He’d be buried in so deep, in every action, every thought that even if Jason tried, he’d never be able to run. Hell, he’d never think of running. A willing submission.   
  


And maybe, after all this pointless waiting, his patience that ran thin, Dick would do exactly that.  
  


There were days when Dick wondered if he should pick up the phone and call Jason, use soft words, loving words to lure him back home, back into his bed like a good little omega, missing the feeling of his touch, the sound of every little purr against his skin, the once blue eyes that shimmered with green every time Jason was angry or excited. And oh, he loved seeing his omega angry. Loved seeing the way he snarled and bared his teeth, his broad shoulders, muscled arms and legs, the very height and width of him making him look more terrifying than any alpha around. The sight of it sent thrill rushing down his spine, making every cell in his body tingle. After living the way he had for so long, after seeing everyone cower under the weight of his gaze, Jason was the only one that could make him feel fear. The only one who could make him feel alive. Dick needed him back in his life so desperately, tired of spending his days drowning in the boredom of his existence. But he knew the longer he waited, the more thrilling their reunion would be. He had spent many hours jotting away everything he would do to Jason, a list of punishments, a list of rewards, all of them interchangeable depending on the circumstances. Then there was the drawer full of collars, an impulse purchase made on a night he was a little too drunk but one that always brought a smile of satisfaction to his face because maybe this idea wasn’t so bad after all.   
  


Tossing the nail file away, Dick sunk deeper into the soft pillows of his couch and sighed. Silence had never bothered him before but now it irked him. Reaching for his phone, he wondered if he called up Thomas would he be gifted with a case that made his soul sing, something that took his mind off the loneliness he had slowly started to feel. Whatever game Jason had started, it had gone on far too long. But still, Dick was stubborn and despite all his misgivings, the sins that he committed so happily, he was never one to break a promise. His finger had just circled the first digit of Thomas’s number when the phone began to ring, the man of the hour had called on his own.   
  


“Hello, daddy dearest,” Dick purred into the phone, knowing that the very sound of his voice, the provocation would annoy and tempt Thomas in equal parts. Maybe instead of just working a case, Dick would pay the old man a visit in more than one way.   
  


“Richard,” Thomas said, his voice heavy, almost tired. Now that wasn’t a reaction Dick was used to, maybe anger, a little bit of flirtation.  
  


“What did the big bad Ultraman do this time?” Dick asked, shifting his position as he remembered the last time Thomas had sounded so annoyed.   
  


Even though he tried so hard to be the toughest man alive, creating an empire with fear, in front of Thomas, Kal was nothing but a little puppy, a slave to an omega, willing to do anything to please his master. And because he was so obsessed, in such desperate need of affection, he more often than not tried to destroy anyone who looked in Thomas’s direction, a trait that was once adorable but was slowly turning annoying.   
  


“That is irrelevant,” Thomas answered, exasperated. “It’s Jason.”  
  


The sound of his mate’s name made Dick sit up straight, a strange sensation coming over him as he heart boomed inside his chest, so loud,  _ so fucking loud,  _ that he couldn’t hear anything but the annoying beat.   
  


“He’s dead,” Thomas explained but before he could get another word out, Dick had crushed the phone, the line automatically disconnecting.   
  


All that anger that he wound up inside of him slowly broke through. The anger that he had buried when Jason first died. The anger he had buried when his mate dared to stay away from him after coming back to life. The anger he had buried when Jason asked for some time apart. The anger he buried when days turned to months and months to years but Jason never called. When he never patched up the wound he had created. It all bubbled up inside of him until he was overflowing. Until he was consumed. And now, Dick would no longer be patient.   
  


As he got to his feet, a single goal in his mind, he decided to be true to his feelings, true to the needs of the alpha that growled inside of him. 

*******

Since he was young, Jason had been a little different. Never noticing the cage that he was trapped within, he fluttered about like a little bird that continued to sing its song even though each note bounced off the walls and crashed right into him, burying him beneath the weight of the ideals he held onto, his sense of justice the curse he had bestowed upon himself. Because he was so different from the residents of Wayne manor, even though he saw the darkness that wrapped around them like another layer of skin, he had imprinted on Dick, following him about like a lost puppy, waiting to be trained. Waiting to be disciplined. If he was smart, he’d see that every smile that Dick’s lips twisted into was devoid of any actual happiness. If he was smart he’d see that every drop of affection poured into his empty cup came at a price. And Dick, he just wanted to chip away at Jason’s innocence, peel of the layers so he could see what was hidden deep inside. He wanted to see the kind of monster Jason would grow into.   
  


His curiosity was his downfall, making him latch onto Jason in ways unexpected. And even though he was in too deep, even though he wanted nothing more than to drown Jason the way he himself had drowned, Dick had given him a choice. The option to run away, something he never had. If Jason wanted to save himself, Dick had promised to make arrangements for him to be safe. He had promised to give him a life where the shadow of Deathwing could never follow him. Yet, Jason had chosen to stay. He had held Dick’s hand. He had kissed Dick’s lips.  _ He had stayed.   
  
_

Now he lay in the cave dead. The skin that belonged to Dick was marred with wounds. The blood that belonged to Dick dripped down the table onto the floor beneath, wasted. The flesh that belonged to Dick was ruptured with wounds. The bones that belonged to Dick were broken and bruised. A sight that he had seen before. A sight that he should have been used to. But as his fingers curled into fists, black nails digging into the palms of his hand, a growl built up in the back of Dick’s throat, his fury knowing no restraint.   
  


“Who did this?” he asked, his voice seemingly calm. Too calm.   
  


“Joker. But he has been taken care of,” Thomas assured, never looking up from the computer in the cave. “Can I leave Jason to you then?”  
  


“Yes,” Dick said, gathering the dead omega’s body in his arms. “Don’t come looking for us. We’ll come back when I’m done disciplining him.”  
  


Hearing those words, Thomas grinned, his brows raised as if the idea amused him.   
  


“Cameras off?” he asked and Dick thought about it for a bit.  
  


“No.”  
  


*******

Cradling Jason in his arms, whimpering at the sight of his lifeless eyes, the dull green that once used to shine so bright, Dick reached out and touched his beloved’s face, traced the sharpness of his cheekbones, the shape of his lips, pressing into their soft texture with his sharpened nail, a bead of red dripping across painted black. If Dick was a wiser man, instead of spinning words into a web, he’d lock Jason away in a real cage, one where he’d learn what it meant to be owned, what it meant to belong. Then, he wouldn’t run into the arms of danger with something to prove. Then, he would see the whole world as dangerous and only ever find comfort in Dick’s arms, the way it was supposed to be. But being who he was, Dick had given a bird without wings a chance to fly and every time Jason soared, all he could do was crash and burn. He could search for a home in the sky but the never-ending blue didn’t want him, rejecting him at every turn. And now, all over again, Dick would have to teach him a lesson, teach him who he belonged to. Show him why he couldn’t just go ahead and die.   
  


Sometimes he wondered if Jason just enjoyed being punished. Knowing him, he probably did.   
  


Pressing one more kiss against Jason’s lips, Dick hummed as blood filled his mouth, the metallic taste of it familiar and nostalgic. Then, he tipped the omega’s body into the Lazarus pit, a remedy for death that Thomas had acquired a few years ago. While those who came back never returned just right, anger poured into their veins to make their dead heart beat once again, that uncontrollable rage was but a tool, a weapon waiting to be used in war. The more ruthless the heart, the more in power one could stay. And now, that poisonous water of the pit seared through Jason’s body, brutally stitching together each wound, just enough to heal but never enough to take away the scars. Those he would have to live with. Those he would have to stare at every time he stood in front of a mirror. It was all his fault.   
  


Sitting by the edge of the pit, Dick watched as Jason was broken down into nothing. As he was put back together again, each tiny piece of him chipped in such a way that his image would look complete but he’d never truly be whole. Then again, everything came for a price and to be granted a life after it had been touched by death, the price for that was so high that even Dick wasn’t fool enough to fall off the tightrope. Instead, he’d watch as Jason stumbled through the streets of Gotham, looking for a way to fill the emptiness inside of him, with anger, with blood, stealing pieces from those he killed, their deaths a sign that he was alive. It would be a vicarious experience.  
  


But for now, he’d have to wait until Jason woke up. Or at least stopped pretending to still be dead. A dumb game to play with someone with Dick’s level of experience.  
  


“If you’re done, I’d like to get home before the sun rises,” Dick said, examining his nails, one of them feeling a little too blunt. Maybe he’d sharpen it against Jason’s skin.  
  


Eyes snapping open, still burning in the grips of the green water, Jason grinned, baring his teeth. Pressing his hands against the edges, he pulled himself out and shook his hair, droplets splashing onto Dick’s chest, sizzling against the fabric of his shirt.   
  


“I thought that if I stayed in a bit longer, you’d worry that the pit had stopped working,” Jason said in a teasing voice, pretending as though he had never died, pretending as though all of this was one big joke, a trick to get what he wanted. And with the way his eyes glowed with amusement, the challenging grin that his lips pulled into, that’s exactly what it was. Crawling over to where Dick was, Jason settled onto his lap, pressing down against his crotch. “I thought you’d pull me out, kiss my lips and tell me how much you love me.”  
  


“You could have just called me,” Dick said as he stared into Jason’s eyes, refusing to let his emotions break through the mask of indifference he wore. “There really wasn’t any need for the show. Or the satisfaction Joker got from killing you.”  
  


“Oh but because he got to kill him, he let his guard down,” Jason whispered, leaning in to nuzzle his alpha’s cheek, sighing as he inhaled his scent. “Because he let his guard down, the old man could finally kill him. So I say, my death was worth something.”  
  


“Your life wasn’t his to take,” Dick spat out, anger wrapping around his words like a parasitic vine. “It was mine. It  _ is  _ mine.”  
  


With his lips hovering near the alpha’s ear, Jason chuckled, “But I gave it to him anyway. What are you going to do about it, D?”  
  


Pulling back his head so he could look at the omega, one idea after another popped into Dick’s mind, the things he could say, the things he could do, the possibilities endless. Maybe he’d take out his special set of knives, the titanium ones that he used only for special occasions. One run across Jason’s skin and they’d make the most beautiful design, tiny rivers of blood painting their own path. Then there were the ropes he had bought while he was in Japan, their edges sharp enough to dig into Jason’s limbs, burning every time he so much as moved. But just as each idea came to life, it slowly faded away into nothingness, everything done and tested. By now, Dick knew what made Jason tick, what made him howl with pleasure and seethe with anger. He needed something new, something that he’d never done before. Something that could make up for his transgression. And that’s when it came to Dick, a thought so exciting, so breathtaking that it made a shiver run down his spine, his lips pulling into a big smile as he cupped Jason’s face.   
  


“I’m going to kill you,” he whispered, rightfully taking what belonged to him. 

  
  


*******

Two years, three months, four days and seven hours. That was how long it had been since Jason had said those words to Dick, causing a sudden separation between the two of them, one that should have ended in a matter of months, during a rough heat or an unbearable rut. But both of them were stubborn, both of them doing everything they could to win the game that Jason had started. He never needed time to  _ heal,  _ never had demons that haunted him in the darkness of the night, too used to making them his pets. All Jason wanted, all he truly needed was a chance to break Dick, to push him until he fell off the edge. To bend him until he was broken, the facade of gentleness fading. He wanted the sharpness of his teeth, the drag of his nails and the kind of anger that left him breathless, panting and begging for more. But Jason should have known, should have understood just how stubborn his alpha could be. If men like Kal ran into a fight without a second thought, desperate to show their power to the world, men like Dick Grayson, they waited, they watched, they broke down their prey piece by piece until there was nothing left to pick at. There was no way he’d pick up the phone, no way he’d make the first move. Which left Jason with no choice but to lure to him and when the Joker arrived on the scene, with his righteousness and his long-winded songs of justice, the opportunity practically crawled into Jason’s lap.  
  
If he were to die again by someone else’s hand, without permission, Dick Grayson would lose his everloving shit. And that’s what Jason had wanted all along.   
  


With his pants ripped apart, the shirt used to tie down his hands, Jason hissed as the sharp edges of Dick’s nails dug into his thigh, breaking through his skin so that when he woke up again, they’d be branded onto him forever. And then, the alpha was pushing into his hole without so much as a warning, no foreplay, no preparation, just the burning stretch that made Jason whine with joy, shudder after shudder passing through his body like wildfire while he tried to twist and turn, his own fingers desperate to hold onto Dick, to bury his face in the crook of his neck and sob, taken apart with every thrust.   
  


He had missed this whenever his heat came around, whenever he buried his face into his pillow, arched his back and stroked himself to completion, missing Dick’s touch. He could have called and sated every single desire but now, as Dick leaned down to kiss him, their tongue rolling together, his teeth pulling against Jason’s lower lip, it was worth the wait.   
  


Then, they were there, the slim fingers wrapping around his neck and pressing against his veins, harder and harder as his heart boomed louder and louder. The poor unknowing thing was panicking in Jason’s chest, not understanding that its owner was enjoying each moment of deprivation, rocking with every thrust, lost in a chant of  _ come on, come on, come on.   
  
  
_ “Jay, jay,” Dick sang, a blissful smile stretching across his face as his fingers wrapped around Jason’s cock. “Jay, are you dying?”  
  


But of course, Jason couldn’t say a word, not when his vision was blurring, not when his mind was a jumbled mess, one part trying to survive, the other trying to feel, confusion and pleasure to enemies waging a war that made him giggle and laugh. What an unnecessary pursuit when death by Dick’s hand was what he wanted. It was an experience that he had been thinking about since he had first fucked Dick in the training room of the batcave, his whole body pressed against the glass as the alpha had his way. He had been thinking about this since the first time he died and came back to life, Dick’s beautiful face the first thing he had seen when his eyes had snapped open, expecting the fires of hell, not the cruel weight of reality. And now, here it was, the moment he had always been waiting for. He was dying. He was  _ really  _ dying. What a way to go.   
  


As his whines and whimpers bled into whispers, Dick bent forward, pressed a kiss against Jason’s neck before biting him once again, bonding them once more, the sharpness of his teeth the last thing the omega felt before everything faded into nothing. 

*******

Wandering about in the dark embrace of death, no matter which way he turned, Jason always found himself on the edge of heaven, it’s tempting bright light serenading him to a home he had never known. Curious, he’d let it run across his skin, flinching when it burned but humming when it slowly ate away at the impurity that had been plaguing his soul while he was alive. By the time it was done, there would be little to nothing left of him. The man the world knew as Jason Todd would be gone, replaced by the tiny figment of a child who had once hid away in an empty apartment with his mother’s corpse since he had nowhere else to run, no one else to turn to. That child would finally learn what peace was, the demons that crawled out at night to haunt his dreams put to rest.   
  


But just as Jason accepted his fate, two arms always wrapped around his body as lips hovered over his ear, warm breath tantalizing his skin.  
  


“It’s time to come home, Jason,” Dick whispered, his voice the one Jason heard before every resurrection, the rise and fall of it more tempting than any promise of eternal peace.   
  


If Jason wanted, he could fight the light grip, run into heaven without ever looking back. But for Dick Grayson he was always so weak, so caught up in his web, the spell that love had once cast that he never wanted to let go.   
  


“Let’s go home,” Jason said, lips pulling into a smile as he turned away from heaven and dove right into the green waters of the pit.   
  


Once again, his body was on fire. Once again, he was ripped open, pieces stolen from his soul, small little holes that didn’t mean much but the presence of which he would feel every time he woke up. It was a strange kind of emptiness, one that he had begged for. One that he needed so desperately to have a purpose, a reason to cling onto Dick. As long as he was incomplete, he would never even think of running away from his alpha. In life or death, he would always come running back.   
  


With the healing process complete as the pit had nothing more to give him, Jason slowly pulled himself out of the pit, his eyes landing on Dick who was sitting by the edge, watching him with amusement.   
  


“Had a fun trip, Jay?” he asked, sounding so very pleased with himself.   
  


“I did, Dickie,” Jason answered as he crawled into his mate’s lap. “But now, it’s time for you to welcome me home, isn’t it?”   
  


As Dick’s lips pulled into a sharp smile, Jason was so glad that he had started this game. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've never really written a dark fic before so wow, this was certainly an experience. I hope you guys liked it. See you next time~


End file.
